ATLANTA — The family of a man shot and killed by an off-duty Atlanta police officer is speaking out at an Atlanta City Council meeting on Monday.
They want the officer’s badge taken away and homicide charges filed against him.
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Devon Anderson, 38, was shot and killed by Officer Melvin Potter in the parking lot of a shopping plaza on Old National Highway in August.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said the off-duty officer got into an argument with a group of people while escorting a South Fulton officer to her car at a birthday party.
A witness told Channel 2 Action News that Anderson was trying to de-escalate the argument when Potter shot him.
Potter was arrested and booked only on a misdemeanor obstruction charge after refusing to provide police with a sample for a blood alcohol test.
“We believe that they did that because Mr. Potter was a police officer,” Community advocate Devin Barrington-Ward said at a news conference. “We don’t feel that Mr. Potter’s status as a police officer makes him above the law.”
Channel 2′s Tyisha Fernandes said that Atlanta City Council members seemed to genuinely feel bad for the family, but ultimately told the family that they have no power to charge anyone with a crime, especially outside of Atlanta.
They also said they have no power to fire police officers.
South Fulton Police Chief Keith Meadows told Fernandes that Potter was charged with obstruction for refusing to take the breathalyzer test.
The department even took out a warrant to draw his blood, but Meadows said Grady Memorial Hospital wouldn’t honor the warrant, and neither would the jail.
Anderson’s family wants the GBI to recommend murder charges for Potter.
“Now that we know that the GBI has turned over evidence to DA Willis’ office, we want the district attorney to update this family,” Barrington-Ward said. “It is a shame that we have not heard from the GBI. That this family has not heard from any representative from the DA’s office, that they have not heard from anyone from the City of South Fulton.”
Channel 2 Action News received the following statement about Potter’s job status.
“Potter was relieved from duty upon our learning of the incident. Relieved of Duty basically means an officer is not to report to their assignment and the employee’s department-issued firearms, identification and badges are secured by the department. The employee is to make themselves available during business hours if called upon, specifically by our Office of Professional Standards.”
Coweta County deputies had to take out a warrant to draw Potter’s blood when he was pulled over for driving under the influence about two years ago.
He ended up being convicted of that DUI.
Anderson’s family feels that the Atlanta Police Department should have fired him then because of that.
A spokesperson for the Atlanta Police Department told Fernandes that Potter was punished for the DUI.
He got a 21-day suspension without pay.
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